Fossils still bite: Bernie Madoff and prehistoric snakes

February 5, 2009

Good for the New York Times! Always trying to take a broad view (even when one doesn’t exist, as Jack Shafer often points out), the paper weighs in on how the plight of Bernie Madoff‘s white-haired victims gives us valuable insights about the global meltdown with this morning’s “Fossils of Largest Snake Give Hint of Hot Earth.”

Good info that the “prehistoric snake” was “a giant relative of today’s boa constrictors.” The elderly Madoff wasn’t the first, nor will he be the last, snake to swallow your money. Wall Street is really is a dangerous place, even for celebrities — see the latest list of Madoff’s victims.

Among other fascinating details, Markopolos told the dazed House members that he planned to deliver to the SEC today a “mini-Madoff.” The agency is sure to accept this silver platter with respect and care.

President Barack Obama, on the other hand, is showing me no respect with his $500,000 limit on CEO pay ( VIDEO). To get a bailout, I have to limit my pay? I don’t think so.

New York’s top banking firms went on a multimillion lobbying spree late last year — just as the feds were crafting a $700 billion rescue plan for struggling banks.

The banks got an extraordinary return on their investment, as they got federal cash injections that were thousands of times larger than what they spent trying to influence Congress and the administration – which doled out the cash.

In a high-profile reversal of the Bush administration, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said yesterday the government is scrapping the leases of 77 parcels of federal land for oil and gas drilling in Utah’s redrock country.

When President Barack Obama launches his version of the faith-based initiative Thursday, he will expand the mission to include abortion reduction and outreach to the Muslim world. He will also try to avoid the thorniest constitutional issues that beset the program for years under his predecessor.

Mr. Obama’s approach to the federal faith office reflects his search for common ground on contentious social issues, and his willingness to dial back some of his campaign positions.

A federal judge charged with slapping his wife hired a big shot defense attorney as he faces a misdemeanor charge that could land him in the clink.

James Peck, 63, the bankruptcy judge overseeing the breakup of Lehman Brothers, hired Barry Bohrer, a prominent criminal defense lawyer whose clients have included Sam Israel, the hedge fund swindler who went on the lam last summer after faking his own suicide to avoid a 20-year jail term.

Peck, who was briefly assigned to handle the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy until he recused himself in December, told cops when they came to his Park Ave. apartment Saturday afternoon that “I was defending myself.”

He said his wife, Judith Peck, 64, was late in returning to the city from their home in the Hamptons and then they argued over a ladder that she had put in his closet.

“I was moving the ladder out. She slapped me in the face,” he told cops. “I put the ladder down and slapped her back. We slapped each other back and forth.”

…Other victims were identified as Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein, the estate of late singer John Denver, actor John Malkovich, former Mets second baseman Tim Teufel and even Madoff’s lawyer Ira Sorkin. The 163-page list also includes hundreds of trust funds, charities, pension plans and unions, as well as entries for Madoff’s grandchildren. [FULL LIST]

Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon computed the Mets’ 2009 payroll at $143 million when factors such as Freddy Garcia‘s probable salary with bonuses, the $1.6 million owed to the Diamondbacks for Scott Schoeneweis and $2.25 million owed to Willie Randolph are included. Wilpon handed Minaya that budget early in the offseason, before Wilpon learned his family had lost money in the Bernie Madoff scandal. Wilpon declared that the Mets had accomplished their winter objectives, mentioning the acquisitions of Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz and “addition by subtraction” with trades that shipped out players such as Aaron Heilman and Schoeneweis.